Changed Destiny
by BoarderKC
Summary: This is a complete what if! What if Tai left with his family before the others could find the eigth child? This has a sequel called What The Futre Brings *Complete*
1. New school, new friends

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.  
A/N: Mimi never moved.   
  
  
A Changed Destiny  
  
Kari Kamiya kept her head down as she entered her new school. The horde of students crowed around her, pushing her and ignoring her struggles to get through the hall to her locker. Finally she made it and waited patiently as the boy who was leaning against it left.   
  
"Hey, look. A new girl," a voice said from behind. "Hey girlie. What's your name?"  
  
Kari glanced over her shoulder and saw a tall, muscular boy with brown hair in a football jacket standing behind her. He looked like he was a junior or senior. His friends crowded behind him, smirking. Kari turned around the rest of the way, but didn't bring her eyes to meet his. "Kari Kamiya," she replied.  
  
"Well Kari, how would you like help picking up your books?" He asked.  
  
"My books? But-" She started.   
  
Before she could finish the boy knocked her books from her hands. His friends laughed as Kari blushed. She slowly kneeled down to pick up her books, but a hand pulled her back up. He was so close she could feel his breath on her cheek. "Your so cute when you blush. How about you and me go out?"  
  
Before Kari could respond another voice came from behind. "Josh, what are you doing?"   
  
The boy, Josh, before her let her go and glanced over Kari's shoulder. He smiled. "Hey, Ishida, what's up?" A handsome boy with blond hair came up and shook Josh's hand. A girl with orange hair, a boy with dark red hair, and another with long blue hair came up behind him. "I'm not doing anything. Just welcoming the new kid."  
  
"Well, why don't you leave her alone?" The blond boy asked.  
  
Josh laughed. "Sure thing, man. I'll leave her in your care." The blond boy nodded in response, and Josh and his followers walked away.   
  
The only girl of the group walked up to Kari. "Are you okay?" She asked. Kari nodded.  
  
The boy with long blue hair kneeled down and picked up her books. "Here you go," he said as he handed them to her.   
  
Kari blushed a deeper crimson and took them from him, whispering a small thank you as she did. "Let me guess, your new here," the blond boy stated. Kari nodded. "And you're a freshman, right?" Kari nodded again. "Don't be so shy," the blond boy laughed. "My name's Matt. This is my girlfriend, Sora." He pointed to the girl with orange hair and she smiled at Kari. "That Izzy, he's an expert on computers," he said pointing to the red headed boy. "And this is Joe," he said pointing to the blue haired boy who had picked up Kari's books.  
  
"My name's Kari," Kari replied.   
  
"Are you having a easy time finding your class?" Izzy asked.  
  
"Yes…. Er… no," Kari stammered. "No, I don't know where T-14 is."  
  
"T-14? Oh, I can take you there. My next class is right next door," Sora smiled. "Come on." Sora started to turn away, but Matt grabbed her hand and pulled her back into a giant hug.   
  
"Not so fast," he laughed.  
  
"Come on, Matt," Izzy said, a little annoyed.  
  
"Fine, fine." Matt kissed Sora on the cheek before letting her go.   
  
"Bye," she waved to him and Joe and Izzy before leading Kari to class. "So what classes do you have, Kari?"  
  
"Um, English, algebra, French, history, newspaper-" She said.  
  
"You're the girl whose supposed to be the new photographer, aren't you?" Sora asked, cutting her off. Kari nodded. "That's great! We need one. I'm one the staff too." Sora stopped. "Here's your class." She pointed over to a doorway in front of them. "I'll meet you here after class and you can come have lunch with my friends and me."  
  
"Well, I was going to have lunch with my brother," Kari replied. "Thank you anyway."  
  
"No problem. Good luck, hope the rest of your day goes better then the beginning," Sora gave her one last smile before turning to the class beside the one Kari had to go in.  
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Kari glanced around the packed lunchroom, looking for her brother. She saw him, well actually his hair, way in the very back. As she got closer she saw he had his head down. "Hey Tai, what's wrong?" She asked as she set her lunch tray down.  
  
Her brother looked up at her and gave her one of his warm smiles. "Nothing, just thinking. I was-"  
  
"Hey, Taichi!" A voice called. Tai and Kari looked up. Kari saw Josh, the same football player who had harassed Kari before waving to her brother. "Come on!"   
  
"OKAY!" Tai quickly stood up.  
  
"Tai," Kari cried, helplessly.   
  
"Oh, um…sorry Kari," he gave her a sympathetic look before rushing over to the table where Josh sat.  
  
Kari felt like she was on the verge of tears as she watched the only person she knew leave. She looked down, keeping her watery eyes away from passers by. "Hey, what's up?"  
  
Kari looked up and saw Sora standing above her holding a soda in her hand. "N-nothing," she replied.  
  
"Why are you alone?" She asked.  
  
"Um… I was…um…" Kari mumbled.  
  
"Come on, come have lunch with my friends," Sora said before Kari could reply. Kari smiled and nodded. She picked up her tray and started to follow Sora out of the lunchroom and to the patio. Sora walked over to a table that was located in the sun with Kari close behind. Five people sat at the table. The three boys Kari had met earlier plus a tall girl with pink hair and another boy with ruffled blond hair and deep blue eyes much like Matt's.  
  
Sora sat down next to Matt and Kari sat down beside her. "Hey, Kari," Matt said, smiling at her.  
  
"Hi," Kari replied after Joe and Izzy had said their hellos.   
  
"This is Mimi," Sora said as she pointed over at the girl with pink hair. "And this cutie here," she said pointing over at the young blond boy who was blushing slightly. "This is TK, Matt's little brother." Kari looked over at the blond boy and felt immediately connected to him. "Mimi, TK, this is Kari. She's new here. She's a freshman just like you, TK."  
  
"What grade are the rest of you?" Kari asked quietly.  
  
"Sora and I are juniors," Matt replied.   
  
"I'm a senior," Joe replied.  
  
"Mimi and I are sophomores," Izzy spoke up over his pizza.  
  
Kari took a sip of her soda and her eyes found they're way up to TK. He was staring at her and for just a second they're eyes met. Kari immediately pulled her eyes from his and looked down at her tray embarrassed.   
  
Kari stayed quiet through most of the lunch, only speaking when someone spoke to her and every so often plastering a smile on her face.   
  
The lunch bell rang and everyone stood up. TK moved to Kari's side and when she glanced up at him he flashed her a warm smile. "Hi. This is going to sound nuts, but have we met before? I just feel like we've met."  
  
"No, it doesn't sound nuts. I actually got the same feeling. I don't think so. Maybe. I'm from Odiaba," Kari replied referring to the city they were now living in. "I just came back."  
  
"Well, I'm not really from here so it doesn't matter," TK shrugged. "Um… we were all going to meet after school. Play a little basketball and then head down to the mall. Do you want to come?"  
  
"Um, yeah. I'd love to," Kari smiled.  
  
TK smiled and a slight blush colored his cheeks. "Great! Just meet me here after school and I'll show you where the courts are." Kari nodded. "Um, I gotta go. My class is this way." He ran off to join Matt and Kari hurried in Sora's direction.  
  
"Well, I see you and TK have hit it off. He likes you," Sora whispered to Kari.   
  
"You think so?" Kari asked trying to keep the excitement in her voice low.  
  
"Yeah, definitely," Sora nodded.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
TK jogged up beside Matt and forced himself to keep up with his brother's pace. "I see that you've gotten yourself a date," Matt smiled at his little brother.  
  
"Its not a date. I just thought she'd like to come," TK replied forcefully.   
  
"Then why are you blushing and smiling like a dope?"  
  
"Its just, I felt this weird connection to her and I want to find out more about her," TK replied.   
  
"Whatever! You like her!" Matt laughed.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kari waited patiently outside the doors of the main building of the school. "Kari!" She turned at the sound of her name and saw TK running toward her. He was so cute, she thought. "Sorry it took me so long. I had to run to my locker."  
  
"Its okay. I wasn't waiting long," Kari replied.  
  
"Well, come on. The courts are this way," TK pointed across the schoolyard. They set out across the grass and soon they came to the green basketball courts where they saw Matt bouncing an orange ball. "Pass it here, Matt," TK called to his brother. Matt passed him the ball and TK ran up to the basket and made a lay-up.   
  
"Show off!" Sora called from where she sat on the sidelines with Mimi, Izzy, and Joe. Joe and Izzy stood up to join Matt and TK in their game and Kari went over to sit with Sora and Mimi. Mimi was lying back on the concrete sunbathing while Sora watched her boyfriend, cheering every so often.   
  
Half an hour passed and the boys were deep in their game. Sora and Kari cheered for the two teams. Matt and Izzy one on side and Joe and TK on the other. The score was 43 to 39, Matt and Izzy winning.  
  
"KARI!!!" Kari looked up at the sound of her name and saw her brother stomping onto the courts. She jumped up and ran over to him, hoping he wasn't angry. Unfortunately he was. He grabbed her arm roughly and yelled, "Where have you been? I've been looking for you for an hour!"  
  
"Tai, I-" Kari felt her face grow warm in embarrassment as she waited for her brother to scolded her.   
  
"Do you have a problem?" A voice said. Both Kari and Tai looked up and saw that Matt, Izzy, TK, and Joe had stopped their game. They all looked like they were ready to fight Tai off. Then Matt's face turned from stern to a face of disgusted surprise. "Tai?"  
  
"Matt," Tai replied.   
  
Matt slowly approached Tai. When they were at arms length away Matt suddenly lashed out and punched Tai in the face.   
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A/N: Well there's the first part of my new story.  



	2. My Hearts Not Strong Enough

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.  
A/N: Mimi never moved.   
  
  
A Changed Destiny  
  
"Where the hell have you been?" Matt screamed in rage.  
  
"Matt!" Sora ran over and held him back. But as she did she kept her eyes down and away from Tai's.  
  
"Sora…" Tai started as he touched his cheek lightly where Matt had hit him.  
  
"Where have you been? How could you abandon us like that?" Matt continued. The others, including Mimi were gathered up behind him.  
  
"I don't owe you any explanation!" Tai yelled. He looked over at Kari. "Let's go."  
  
"But Tai-" Kari started.  
  
"Tai, get out of here! Your not welcome here!" Matt turned away.   
  
"Fine! Let's go Kari," Tai ordered.  
  
Matt turned to face Tai once more. "I said leave. Whether she goes or not is up to her." Tai's face reddened in rage as he turned and walked off the courts.   
  
Kari turned to face the others and saw a mix of emotions on the faces. Sora was crying into Matt's chest while he just hugged her tightly, steaming in rage. Joe, Izzy, and Mimi talked quietly. TK seemed withdrawn from the group, but he looked up at Kari and slowly approached her.   
  
"Tai's your brother?" He asked. Kari nodded once more. "My god, that would make you-"  
  
"TK, not here," Matt interrupted him.  
  
Kari ignored whatever TK was saying before and asked, "Why is Sora crying? And why's Matt so mad? Is it because of Tai?"   
  
"Tai broke Sora's heart," TK replied. "And Matt has never trusted him. Tai was our… um… how do I explain this? Leader is the only word to really explain it."  
  
"Leader? Tai? How so?" Kari continued to ask questions.  
  
"No reason, just forget it. All you need to know is that none of us like or trust your brother. I suggest you keep him away from our group," TK shrugged.   
  
Sora pulled away from Matt and dried her eyes. She glanced over at Kari and TK who were talking quietly. "Oh my god!" She exclaimed making all the others around her whirl around to look at her. "That would make you little Kari Kamiya!" Kari nodded and laughed a little. "Oh my god!" Sora wrapped her arms around Kari tightly. "Oh, I'm sorry. I doubt you remember me. You probably think I'm nuts!"  
  
"I'm sorry, I don't," Kari replied.  
  
"Sora Takenouchi, I grew up with your brother," she said the last part softly.  
  
"Sora?" Kari asked, remembering the name. Kari returned the tight hug.   
  
Sora stepped back to look at the girl. "Oh my god, your so big now! Where did you go?" Sora asked.   
  
"To the states," Kari replied as she blushed with all the attention.  
  
"You went to the states? Why?" Izzy asked.  
  
"I don't know, no one in my family tells me anything," Kari shrugged.  
  
"Why's that?" Izzy asked.  
  
"Izzy, why don't you stop with the questions for a bit?" Sora urged. "Come on, Kari, we have to talk!" Sora started to pull her away from the group.   
  
"Sora," Matt started.   
  
"I know, but I just have to talk to her," Sora replied. She ran back and gave him a quick peck on the lips before rushing off, pulling Kari behind her.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kari followed Sora to wherever they were going. They walked down the long streets of the city talking softly as they went. "Come on, let's go in here," Sora said pointing to an ice cream shop across the street.   
  
"Why'd you bring me here?" Kari asked with a laugh. Across the road laid a quiet little shop. It was the place her brother and Sora would take her when she was a little girl. When she wasn't in the hospital.  
  
Sora gave her a mischievous grin and led her across the street. "Because I haven't been here in years! I thought it might be nice." Sora opened the door and Kari went inside. "Do you still like the same ice cream?" Sora asked. Kari nodded and Sora walked to the counter. Kari went and took a seat at a small table and glanced around. Everything was the same from when she had been little. "Here you are, Kari." Kari pulled her attention to Sora who was sitting down across from her now. Sora handed her a small ice cream cone with white ice cream with black dots in it.   
  
"Chocolate chip; you remember," Kari laughed.  
  
"Well, its hard to forget when you used to throw a fit if I messed up the order," Sora laughed.  
  
"Your thinking of Tai," Kari giggled. Sora continued to laugh, but not as strong as before. "Thinking about him hurts, huh?" Kari asked. Sora nodded. "Did you love Tai?"  
  
Sora didn't answer for a moment. Instead she looked down and the table and took a bite of her ice cream. "I- I dunno." Sora looked back up at Kari. "How's your heart?"  
  
"Its not a good idea to avoiding one question with one that wants to be avoided," Kari replied. She looked down at the chocolate chip ice cream cone. "Its okay." Sora raised an eyebrow. "The doctors say its okay. I just have to stay relaxed, that's all."   
  
"That's good, I was hoping you were okay. After the last time-" Sora started.  
  
"After the last time we left Japan," Kari finished as she stood up and walked out of the ice cream parlor.   
  
Sora jumped up and ran after the young girl. "Kari, I'm sorry. I'm sure you don't want to talk about, but I was just saying-"  
  
Kari turned back to face Sora. "It doesn't matter what you were just saying! I don't want to talk about it! If you remember anything about me you'd know I don't want to talk about!" She yelled. She stopped talking and held her chest as he face went white. Her knees buckled from under her and she almost collapsed to the ground. Sora caught her arm and helped her over to a bus stop bench.  
  
"Kari, are you okay?" Sora asked. She was scared. This wasn't the first time this had happened to Kari, but that didn't mean she knew what to do.  
  
"I-I'm fine," Kari cried out, still clutching her chest right above her heart. "I'll be okay. I just need to sit."   
  
"I'm going to call a cab! I'm taking you home," Sora said as she walked over to a pay phone. Kari watched her silently, breathing heavily.  
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There's part 2 for your enjoyment! Sorry it was so short and it took so long! PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 


	3. It Stopped

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.  
A/N: Mimi never moved. If you read the second chapter sometime before yesterday I added stuff to it. I suggest you go back and read it..   
  
  
A Changed Destiny  
  
  
Sora glanced up at the huge apartment building that stood before her. With her luck Tai was probably up there waiting for Kari to come home. She sighed as she opened the yellow cab door and helped Kari out.  
  
"Sora, I'm sorry this happened. I-" Kari started for the seventh time on the way over, but Sora stopped her like each time before.  
  
"Kari, its okay. Calm down. You don't have to be sorry for something you have no control over." Sora helped the shaking girl into the building and to the waiting elevator. It was empty so Sora continued their conversation inside. "What floor?" She asked as she ran her hand over the different buttons that lead to different floors.  
  
"Seven." Sora hit the button with the seven printed on it and the doors closed. "But I do have control over it. I shouldn't have gotten angry; I shouldn't have gotten so worked up! That's one of my problems. I have to stay calm!"  
  
"Does it hurt?" Sora asked. After she said it she mentally kicked herself. 'Does it hurt? What kind of stupid question is that?' She yelled silently.  
  
"No," Kari lied, looking down at the floor of the elevator. She couldn't meet Sora's eyes right now. She felt too ashamed, angry, and pained. She knew if she looked up Sora would see the obvious pain in her eyes that was impossible to hide.  
  
The elevator came to a slow halt and the doors opened into a long hall lined with doors. "We're in apartment 209." They walked down the hall in silence. Kari straightened up, refusing to let Sora help her. "Taichi's gonna be home. You don't have to come." They both stopped in front of a door marked 209. The name Kamiya was tacked up under the numbers.  
  
"Do you have a key?"   
  
"Yeah, its in my backpack-" She gasped in horror. "Which I left at the ice cream parlor! I have to go back and get it! I-"  
  
"Kari, calm down! Now, do you need it tonight?" Kari shook her head. "Okay, well, I'll stop and pick it up on my way home."  
  
"You go by there?"  
  
"Yep. I'm still live in the same place I always have, across town. Besides I was supposed to work today and my mom's flower shop is near there."  
  
"I'm sorry, Sora! I didn't mean to make you miss work!"  
  
"Kari," Sora interrupted with a laugh. "You worry too much. I'm late, that's all. My mom'll understand. Meet me and my friends at the basketball courts tomorrow. I'll bring your backpack and you can hang out with TK."  
  
Kari blushed at TK's name. "Bye Sora." Kari waved to her before knocking on the door.  
  
The door opened and Kari looked up at her brother standing in the doorway. "Where's your key?" He asked.  
  
"I forgot my backpack at school." He stepped back to let her inside. "Are you mad at me Taichi?"  
  
Tai shut the door and looked down at the frail little girl standing before him. She was way too small for most girls her age and her voice was so quiet. He took a step toward her and wrapped her in a warm embrace. "No, I'm not." He pulled away and wrapped and an arm around her shoulders. "Are you hungry? I can make something for you if you want." He quizzed as he lead her toward the couch.  
  
"No, I'm okay, Tai." Kari sat down beside Tai. She lay down against his chest and his grip around her shoulders tightened. He kissed her forehead and she looked up at him. Only now did she notice his black eye. "Taichi, why did Matt hit you?"  
  
"Don't worry about it, Kari. He's my problem," Tai replied as he looked away from her and out through the glass door that lead onto the patio. The moon shown brightly in the darkening sky.  
  
"But Tai, you're my brother and he's- well, I think he's my friend," Kari argued. Tai still didn't reply. "TK, you know who TK is right?"  
  
"He's Matt's little brother."  
  
"Yeah. He said that you were the leader of something, but he didn't say what."  
  
Tai looked down at her and she saw a look of shame in his chocolate eyes. "Kari, I need you to promise me something." Kari nodded. "If any of them, Matt, Sora, Mimi, Izzy, Joe or TK ever bring up something called the Digital World walk away. Walk away and tell me."  
  
"Okay Tai."  
  
"Promise me!"  
  
"I promise."  
  
"Now I need a second promise. You have to promise never to ask me about it. Please Kari, I'm sure I sound nuts, but you have to promise."  
  
"I-I promise. But Tai-" She was cut off by him kissing her on the forehead once more.  
  
"Thank you." She looked up at him and saw tears pooling in his eyes.  
  
"Why are you crying, Tai? Answer that please! I want to help!"  
  
"Because when I saw them it hurt. I realized that I really did abandon them." He paused. "Then seeing her in his arms."  
  
"Sora and Matt?" Kari asked innocently.  
  
Tai nodded. "He was always the better man, and the better leader. It figures he'd get her. I guess I lost any chance after I left. Then he mumbled something Kari barely caught. "…the children of Friendship and Love together…"  
  
Kari ignored it and lay against her brother once more, overcome by exhaustion. She felt her eyes droop as she let out a small yawn. She was tired after her long day and sleep beckoned her into darkness.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Kari walked up to the basketball courts and held up her hand to shield her eyes from the bright, early morning sun. All her friends were gathered on the small bleachers. She could see Sora sitting with Matt's arm around her waist. TK laid stretched out on the bottom seat looking up at them. Mimi sat on the top bench next to Joe who had his arm around her waist, while Izzy was typing furiously on a yellow laptop.   
  
Kari slowly approached them. Izzy looked up from his computer and looked over at Matt who was looking down at TK. "She's here." All of them looked up at her.  
  
TK jumped off the bench. "Hey Kari," he smiled sweetly.   
  
Sora stood up and held up a blue backpack. "Here Kari."  
  
"Thanks," Kari said as she took it.  
  
"Kari can we talk to you?" Matt asked.  
  
"Well, I'm here so go ahead," Kari smiled.  
  
"No, I mean after school," Matt quickly corrected himself.   
  
"Uh…sure," Kari shrugged.   
  
"Okay, well, then meet us here after school alright?" TK said. Kari nodded a reply. He then leaned over to whisper in her ear, "You want to get out of here?" Kari shrugged.  
  
Kari nodded and TK automatically grabbed his backpack and her hand and pulled her away from the group. They heard the older kids giggling as he walked away. "Why are they laughing?" Kari asked.  
  
"Who knows? They're all nuts!" TK laughed. He glanced back at her. A dark blush appeared on his face when he realized he was still holding her hand tightly. He quickly let go. "Sorry!"  
  
"Its okay," Kari laughed. "So where are we going?"  
  
TK stuck his hands in his pockets. "I don't know. Wherever. I just had to get away from all those couples making out!"  
  
"But Izzy was there."  
  
"Yeah, well, he's too interested in his laptop. Who knows what he's doing on that thing!"   
  
They walked across the grassy lawn of the school. "So how come everybody wants to see me after school? Did I do something wrong?" Kari asked as she glanced over at TK. His smile had disappeared from his face. "What is it? Gang initiation?" TK's eyes flinched a little, but her joke had no other effect. "Come on, smile. All of a sudden your no fun?"   
  
"Just wait till after school. Matt and Izzy can explain it better then I can," he shrugged. He glanced up at her. "You know, I've been trying to ignore this because you don't seem to wait to draw attention to yourself, but are you okay? You're as white as a ghost and you keep staggering around."  
  
Kari averted her eyes to the wet grass under her feet. "I'm okay."  
  
"No you not! What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing!"  
  
"You can tell me! I'm your friend, right?"  
  
"TK, its personal. I c-can't," she stammered as she began to feel a little lightheaded. "Can you help me to the nurse's office?"  
  
"Of course. Come on," he gestured for her to go first. Kari did and stumbled a little. "Are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to get to the nurse. She has something I need. I have to go!" Kari turned and began to run from him even though her brain was screaming for her to stop.   
  
TK was too shocked to go after her. Instead he stood, mouth hanging open, watching as the small chocolate colored eyed girl run from him. "Fine! Whatever!" He mumbled. He turned back and started back toward his brother and her friends. He approached the silver bleachers with his head down.  
  
"What's wrong?" Matt asked. "Where's Kari?"  
  
"The nurse's office."  
  
Sora jumped up. "Why? What's wrong with her?"  
  
"I don't know. She was really pale and her voice was really small."  
  
"You said she was going to the nurse's office?" TK nodded. Sora leaned over and gave Matt a firm, fast kiss on the lips. She jumped off the bleachers and began sprinting toward the office.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Kari forced herself to continue running even though a pain in her chest made her want to stop. Her breathing was ragged and shallow. She pulled open the door and ran inside. "Kari?" A male voice said from behind. Kari turned and saw Tai standing by the doors. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Tai, it hurts!" Kari collapsed into his arms and pressed her face into his chest. "OI didn't take my medication this morning! I was in too big of a hurry!"  
  
"Kari, how could you forget?!" Tai yelled.  
  
"I'm sorry!" She choked.  
  
"Tai, is Kari alright?" Tai looked up and saw Sora standing there, breathing heavily. "TK said she was looking bad. I figured she was having problems again."  
  
"Again?!" Tai yelled.  
  
"I took her out after school yesterday. It happened then too."  
  
Kari was still crying into Tai's shirt. "She forgot to take her medicine."  
  
"It hurts, Tai. I want to go home," Kari forced.  
  
"Alright, let's go." Tai let her go and kneeled down to pick up the books he had dropped when Kari had collapsed into his arms. Kari stood for a moment before swaying and falling backwards into Sora's arms.   
  
Sora slowly laid her down on the tile floor. "Kari? Kari! Wake up!" Sora yelled as she shook her.  
  
Tai was instantly by her side. "Forget taking her home! I'm taking her to the doctor!"  
  
Kari forced her eyes open as she turned on her side and brought her knees to her chest. "I don't want to go to the hospital! I want to go home!"  
  
"Kari, you-"  
  
"NO! I want to go home!"  
  
"Kari," Sora stroked Kari's brown hair softly. "You have to go if you want to stop the pain. It can only get worse if you don't treat it. And Tai can't take care of you by himself."  
  
"Come on, Kari. Please!" Kari nodded slightly and Tai helped her up. He could feel her shaking and he knew he was shaking too.  
  
"I'm going with you!" Sora said as she stood up.  
  
"You should stay. You have school," Tai replied.  
  
"I'm not letting you do this alone! You may be courage, Tai, but your still part of a team!"  
  
Kari let out a small groan. "Let's go!" Tai picked up Kari and the three walked out of the school doors.   
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Please read and review. 


	4. What Really Happened

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.  
A/N: Mimi never moved.   
  
  
A Changed Destiny  
  
  
Sora sat silently in the waiting room of the East Odiaba Memorial Hospital. Tai was pacing back and forth as he waited nervously for news on Kari. The entire scene of earlier played repeatedly in both of their minds. Tai's was driving too fast. Kari passed out. She stopped breathing.   
  
"She'll be okay, Tai," Sora tried to reassure him.   
  
"I should have made sure she took her meds. If I hadn't rushed her out the door we wouldn't be here," he argued.  
  
"Darn it, Tai! Stop blaming yourself! She needs you! You have to stay strong because she can't!"  
  
He collapsed into the empty seat beside her. "Why'd you have to say it?" He asked, sobbing into his hands.  
  
"Say what?"  
  
"Say I was courage?! Say I was still part of the team?!" He yelled and she swallowed the lump in her throat. "I don't have courage! I ran away from the fight! I left my friends to fight without their leader! I left the team!"  
  
"Yes, you did. You're going to have to tell them why you left. No one knows."  
  
"They wouldn't understand," he replied bitterly.  
  
"Give me a break! They'd understand! They're going to be angry no matter what, but they deserve to know what happened! You're their friend; you're their leader!"  
  
"Mr. Kamiya." Tai looked up and say a man in a long white lab coat. It was Jim Kido, Joe's older brother, Kari's Japan doctor. "Your sister's is heart is slowly collapsing. It is very weak at this point. I realize that coming back to Japan may have caused some untimely stress and I think it is increasing the rate of the collapse."  
  
Tai jumped out of his seat. "But you said we had to bring her back! You said she would get better if we brought her back to Japan!"  
  
"Yes, I did say that, but I hate to say this; your sister's getting worse. Almost to the point where it's untreatable."  
  
Tai squeezed his eyes shut. "I don't want to hear this. I want to see my sister!"  
  
"Alright, follow me." Jim turned and started to walk towards a door mark 'Medical Personal Only' with Tai and Sora close behind. He stopped and glanced back at Sora. "I'm sorry, only family is allowed in here."  
  
Sora's heart fell. "Alr-"  
  
"She is family," Tai interrupted.  
  
"Okay." Jim pushed open the door and walked down a long hall. They came to a door and Jim opened it for Tai and Sora.   
  
Tai walked into the hospital room and saw Kari sitting up, staring out the window. She had an IV going into her arm and somewhere behind her a heart monitor beeped quietly. She looked up in alarm at the sound of the door closing. "Tai!" She cried. He ran over to the bed and hugged her carefully, trying not to mess with any of the millions of wires running in and out of her. "Can we go home yet?"  
  
Tai glanced back at Jim. "I'll start on the release papers."   
  
"Yeah, we're going home," Tai replied as he sat down on the bed.  
  
Kari looked down at her hands in her lap. "I'm sorry you had to bring me down here. When we go home you should go back to school because you shouldn't have to take care of me. I'm sure your sick of doing it."  
  
Tai pushed back a piece of brown hair from her eyes. "No. Don't say that. That could never be true! Your going home and so am I. I'm not leaving you by yourself."  
  
"Are you coming too, Sora?" Kari asked, quietly.  
  
"Um, I don't think so. Its up to your brother. I should really-"  
  
"You can come if you'd like," Tai interrupted. "I could use the help."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sora opened the door to the Kamiya's apartment and stepped back so Tai could carry Kari inside. She closed the door and took off her shoes before following Tai deeper into the apartment. She looked around and found the living room to be pretty bear. A TV, a blue couch, and a small coffee table. On the wall to the left were two closed doors and on the other side was an open door that Tai slipped into.   
  
"Sora, can you help me out?" Tai called to her. Sora walked into the room and saw Tai standing with Kari in his arms next to a neatly made bunk bed. "Could you turn down the bed?" Sora did as he asked so Tai could set down his sleeping sister. "Could you go get a blanket from the closet on the other side of the living room?"  
  
"Yeah, no problem," she replied as she walked out of the room and to the doors on the left wall. She paused as she tried to decide which door to go into. She decided on the closest which happened to be the left one. Opening it she looked around in confusion. Instead of being a closet with blankets it was a bedroom. But it didn't have a bed for Tai's parents like she would expect. It was pretty empty except for a two suitcases and a small box.   
  
The door suddenly slammed closed making Sora jump back in surprise. Tai stood there with his hand on the door. "Don't go in there," he ordered. Tai walked over to the other door and opened it to reveal towels and blankets. He pulled a blanket from it and closed it before rushing back to Kari's room.   
  
Sora sat down on the couch and waited for Tai to return. He walked over at sat down on the couch, not bothering to say anything or look at her. She looked at him though. "Where are your parents, Tai?" She asked. "Don't lie to me! I saw the empty bedroom and these are only two room apartments!"  
  
"My parents are still in the states," he replied looking out the sliding glass window.  
  
"Then why are you here? And why is Kari here?" Sora asked.   
  
"Because a doctor in America said that we should bring her back to Japan. He said that there was equipment or something here that she would need."  
  
"Why aren't your parents here?"  
  
He finally made eye contact with her. "Because they've given up! They gave up that Kari would ever get better! It took me a year, but I saved enough money to where I could take Kari and come back to Japan. I wasn't about to give up and I'm not going to now!"  
  
"I'm glad, Tai!" Sora told him.   
  
"She's the eighth child," Tai said from out of nowhere. "You know that, right?"  
  
"Yeah, I know. We all know. Gennai told us," Sora replied. She looked over at him. "What happened?"  
  
"You really want to know?" Tai asked. Sora nodded. "Good, because I need to tell someone."  
  
  
~~**Flashback**~~  
Tai stood behind Izzy, the red headed computer expert of the Digidestined, as he placed each of the cards to open the gate. He would say the logic behind each card as if someone would fight him on it, but the cries never came. Everyone trusted him, and everyone trusted Tai's decision to believe in him.  
  
The large gate before them opened and the Digidestined stood up praying that they were preparing for their journey home. They all jumped through the doors just as they began closing once more.  
  
  
~~**Reality**~~  
"We got back to the camp and I was all set. Ready to find the eighth child and defeat Myotismon. And I was so excited to see Kari, but I was also worried about her. She was so disappointed about not being able to go to summer camp," Tai said. "The whole bus ride home she was all I thought about, but I never would have dreamed she would have been the eighth child."  
  
"How and when did you find out?" Sora asked.  
  
  
~~**Flashback**~~   
Tai walked into his apartment and pulled off his shoes. He put a finger to his lips to shush the pink digimon in his arms. "I'm home!" He yelled.   
  
His mother walked out of the kitchen. "Tai, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be a summer camp."  
  
"It got let out early. Something about snow," Tai mumbled.   
  
"What's that thing in your arms?" She asked pointing to Koromon, Tai's digimon.  
  
"Uh, this? Its um.... a present for Kari!" He replied. "Where's is she?" He ran off toward his room that he shared with Kari and threw open the door. No one was in the room.  
  
"Tai." Tai looked back and saw his mother with tears in her eyes. "Kari, in the hospital. Her heart stopped again."  
  
"NO!" He cried. "We have to go! I have to be there with her!"  
  
  
~~**Reality**~~  
"I remember you calling me from the hospital. You said you couldn't come to any meetings or look for the eighth child. You were crying," Sora interrupted.  
  
"Yep, I was," Tai nodded. "I got to the hospital and she was laying in the bed, pale and fragile. She looked almost angelic though, but being the stupid jerk I was I woke her up. She nearly had a heart attack, and she would have if she hadn't already had one.   
  
  
~~**Flashback**~~  
Tai ran into the hospital room and saw his sister lying in the hospital bed. A dozen tubes ran in and out of her, carrying blood or helping her breath or whatever else they were used for. He ran up to the bed and looked down at the pale girl. "Kari !" He yelled.  
  
Her eyes flared open and she erupted in to a fit of coughs. Mrs. Kamiya ran into the room and grabbed Tai's arm roughly. "What do you think your doing?" She yelled. "Get out of here, Tai! Get out of the room!"  
  
Tai felt as if he was on the verge of tears. He turned and started to walk out of the room. When he reached the door way he glanced back and saw his mother looking away from him and holding Kari in her arms.   
  
Kari was watching him as he left and when he looked back she reached out her hand, hoping he'd come back. 'I can't,' he mouthed to her. Her eyes filled with tears, but she nodded and waved goodbye. He waved back before walking out of the room.  
  
  
~~**Reality**~~  
"That doesn't explain how you found out or why you left though," Sora interrupted.  
  
"I'm getting to that. Be patient. You waited the last six years, you might as well wait three more minutes," Tai argued playfully.  
  
"But in the last six years I didn't have a choice in the matter," Sora frowned as she crossed her arms.  
  
Tai almost laughed. It had been awhile since he had bickered with anyone like this. And he had missed Sora more. "Okay, well. I found out that night," he replied.  
  
  
~~**Flashback**~~  
Tai sat in an ugly brown chair in the hallway of the hospital. He stared at the floor as he swung his legs back and forth. He was waiting for the doctors to leave Kari's hospital room so he could sneak in to see her.   
  
"Tai," a strange voice called. He looked up and saw a white haired cat digimon standing before him. It was Gatomon, one of Myotismon's henchmen.  
  
"What do you want?" Tai whispered as he jumped out of his seat. 'Why'd I leave Koromon with Sora?' he thought.   
  
"I'm here to see you. I know who the eighth child is," Gatomon replied.  
  
"Then what are you doing here? Trying to rub it in that you've destroyed him?" He replied angrily. "Or is it that your on your way back to Myotismon with the information?"  
  
"No, I'm not, Tai. I'm here to give the eighth child her tag and crest," the cat replied as she held up a digivice and a tag with a crest in it.  
  
"Light," Tai read the symbol on the crest. "What do you mean give it to him? He's in this hospital?"  
  
"Are you deaf? I said her! The eighth child is a girl!"  
  
"Why are you giving them to her?"  
  
"Because, as shocking as this is going to sound, I am the digimon of the eighth child."  
  
"No way!"   
  
Gatomon only nodded. "I'm sorry about what I have done, but my past is not exactly something I remember clearly."  
  
"Then who is it? Show me where she is," Tai replied.   
  
"Right there." Gatomon pointed to Kari's hospital room.   
  
"You mean Kari?" Tai practically yelled.  
  
"Keep your voice down! Don't call attention to us! Yes, your sister is the eighth child. But I've been watching her for the last couple of days. She seems rather sickly."  
  
"She is. She's dying because her heart doesn't work."  
  
"Then she wouldn't make it in the Digital World."  
  
"Correct."  
  
"Then you have to take her and leave. Get her away from Myotismon." The door to Kari's room and the doctors walked out and Gatomon slinked away into the shadows. One of the doctors glanced at Tai, but all his eyes shown were pity.  
  
"You mean leave Japan?"  
  
Gatomon nodded solemnly. "Yes. It took me too long to find her for her to die in the first fight. Take her and get out of Japan."  
  
"Can I trust you as a friend?" Tai asked.  
  
"Hold out your hand," Gatomon replied. Tai did as he was told. She set the digivice, tag, and crest in his hand. "You can trust me. But I have to go now before Myotismon suspects something." She turned to go.  
  
"Gatomon, wait!" Tai called to her. Gatomon turned back. "Do you want to see her first? Up close, I mean?"   
  
"I shouldn't," Gatomon replied.   
  
"It won't hurt anything, she likes cats. It might make her feel a little better." Gatomon still seemed to be nervous, but accepted his offer. He held out his arms and she jumped into them. Glancing around he made sure no one was coming before slipping into the room.  
  
He walked up to the bed and found Kari half asleep. "Hey kiddo," he whispered, remembering his mistake from earlier and stayed quiet.   
  
Kari smiled. "Tai, you came back!"   
  
"Of course I did. And I brought someone to see you too." He set Gatomon on the bed and she slowly climbed onto Kari's chest.  
  
"You brought me a kitty?" Kari asked as she stroked Gatomon.   
  
"My name's Gatomon," the kitty purred.  
  
"You can talk? Wow, that's cool! My name's Kari." Kari continued to stroke Gatomon softly. Gatomon purred in ecstasy and curled up in a ball on Kari's chest. "I like her, Tai."  
  
"Well, she'll have to go in the morning. She has a job to do," Tai replied.   
  
Kari frowned a little, but she quickly covered it with a smile once more. "When am I going home?"  
  
"Soon. They want you to stay just a little longer for test, but then we can take you home."  
  
"I'm sick of tests, Tai. They hurt and they make me tired. I wanted to go to summer camp with you! Its not fair, Tai!"  
  
"Be glad you didn't. Some funky stuff happened."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
Tai grinned. He couldn't lie to her, but he didn't want to scare her. "Well, first I was sucked into another dimension with lots of monsters that chased me and my friends! And I became the high supreme leader of a group of heroes whose job it is to save the world. And now we're back on earth to fight our deadliest enemy."  
  
Kari laughed. "Your funny, Tai!" She glanced down at Gatomon. "When I get better I'm going to have adventures just like you! Will I get better, Tai?"  
  
"Of course you will!" Tai replied thinking about with he would have to do. 'God Kari, you have no idea the adventures you'd have if you were well,' he thought. 'Someday.' "Its time to go to sleep."  
  
"Will you stay?" Tai nodded. "Gatomon's not going to be here tomorrow is she?"  
  
"Probably not."  
  
"Okay, goodnight Tai. Goodnight Gatomon." Tai lay down next to her and she snuggled into his chest with Gatomon in between the two.  
  
  
~~**Reality**~~  
"The child of light. It suits her," Sora said deep in thought. "So she's met Gatomon?"  
  
"Yeah, but the next morning Gatomon was gone and she thought it was all a dream," Tai replied. "Its been killing me for so long, hiding it from her. But I didn't want her to know that she wouldn't be able to fight. And to know I left my friends to protect her."  
  
"How'd you convince your parents to leave?"  
  
"That part was relatively easy. All I had to do was point out a monster and we were gone," Tai laughed. "Didn't Agumon explain all this to you?" Sora looked away from him. "What?"   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kari forced her eyes open. The effects of the medication were wearing off and her chest hurt. She turned on her side, brought her knees to her chest and prayed the pain would go away.  
  
In the living room she could hear Tai and Sora talking quietly. She wanted to call to him, but she didn't think she could force out enough sound. Instead she closed her eyes and thought about the dream she had been having. It involved a white cat that turned into a beautiful angel. Instead of the stress and pain she felt when she slept she felt safe and warm. The angel would call her name and say they'd be together someday.  
  
You'd think she'd be scared. An angel telling you you'd be together someday. Your thinking death, right? But for some reason Kari knew she wasn't an angel of death. She meant protection. She seemed to give off a light that made Kari feel better inside.  
  
Something bright began to hurt her eyes. She opened them and saw something shining out of the top drawer of Tai's dresser. She forced herself out of the warm bed and shuffled softly over to the dresser. She pulled open the drawer and shaded her eyes, as the light grew stronger. She sifted through Tai's shirts and found whatever was making the light. She pulled two things out. One was a small digital device that beeped softly. The other was a small pendant with a charm that had the symbol for light on it. It was the thing giving off the light.  
  
Suddenly the computer in the corner came to life and a swirling portal appeared in front of it.  
  
"Taichi!" She yelled as loud as she could.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sora was about to tell Tai what had happened to Agumon and the rest of the digimon when a cry from the bedroom interrupted her. "Kari!" Tai yelled as he jumped out of his seat and ran for the door. Sora jumped up after him.   
  
Tai threw open the door and shielded his eyes from a bright light. He ran in and found Kari standing by his open dresser staring at a swirling portal in front of his computer. "Kari, what happened?" He asked.  
  
"Tai, I don't know what I did! I found these and that thing opened!" She held up a digivice and a tag and crest. Her digivice, tag, and crest to be exact.   
  
Tai glanced back at Sora. "I think we're going back." She nodded in understanding just as the light intensified and the room was drenched in white.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Matt paced back and forth. "Where is she?" He yelled.   
  
TK looked up from his homework. He sat on the bleacher at the basketball courts with Izzy, Mimi, and Joe. "I don't know! Be patient."   
  
"Why would she just leave like that? Why wouldn't she tell me where she was going?"  
  
"Cool it, man!" Joe yelled as he pulled away from whispering something into Mimi's ear. "You are way too over protective of your girlfriend!"  
  
"Can I help it if I worry?" Matt asked. Suddenly something on his belt started beeping. He reached down and pulled his digivice from where he had put it. He looked up at the others and saw all their digivices beeping too. "What's going on?" Just then a huge portal appeared above them and they disappeared into a huge blast of light.  



	5. We've All Gone Back

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.  
A/N: Mimi never moved.   
  
  
A Changed Destiny  
  
Tai forced his eyes open and looked around. He was lying in grass, no doubt in the digital world. Sora lay beside him, still unconscious. He crawled over to her and shook her lightly. "Sora," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.   
  
She opened her eyes. "We're back, aren't we?" Tai nodded. "I don't want to do this again, Tai."  
  
"I know, but-" A scream interrupted him. "That was Kari!" He jumped up and began running toward the source of the scream. He pushed through a huge bush and stopped himself when he came to a large clearing.   
  
Kari lay crying on the ground with a huge tyrannosaurus rex standing over her. It was a Tyrannomon and he looked ready to attack. She glanced over at Tai and screamed, "Tai! Help me, please!"  
  
Sora came up behind Tai. "You go to Kari. I'll distract him!" She nodded and began to inch her way over to Kari. Tai picked up a stone that lay by his feet and threw it at the Tyrannomon's head. The small rock made just enough of an impact to make the digimon look over in his direction. Tai began to wave his arms in the air. "Come on! Come after me!" He yelled.  
  
The Tyrannomon did as Tai ordered and began to go after him. Tai slipped back into the forest and ran from him. Sora ran over to Kari and knelt down beside the sobbing girl. Sora wrapped her arms around her and tried to calm her. "Its okay, its alright. It's going to be okay."  
  
Kari clung to her tightly. "What was that?" She choked out. "Where are we? I'm scared!"  
  
"We're in the Digital World. I doubt you know what that is. Tai's going to be back in a minute. When he comes back we'll tell you where we are and we're going to get you home."  
  
"Hey," Tai fell to his knees in front of Sora. He was tired and out of breath from running and a little scratched and bruised from the attacks the Tyrannomon got in before Tai lost him. "Kari, are you okay?"  
  
Kari looked at her brother. "I'll be okay, Tai. But I want to go home, I'm scared."  
  
"I know, Kari. And we'll get back home. Come here," he said as he held out his arms to her. She moved into his arms and he hugged her tightly.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Matt awoke and looked around. He was in the Digital World. It may have been six years since he had last been there, but the Digital World wasn't something you forget easily. He looked around. No one seemed to be around.   
  
He forced himself to his feet. "Hello?" He yelled. "TK! Izzy! Joe! Mimi! Anybody there?" He began walking aimlessly, still calling his friends names. He ripped his digivice off of his belt. "Where are they?" He yelled. Three red dots appeared on it and he started to race toward them. They began to get closer and soon he realized her was right beside him. He pushed back a branch of a bush and saw Tai with someone crying in his arms and Sora sitting beside them. He jumped out into the clearing. "Sora!" Sora looked up and saw Matt running toward her. She jumped to her feet and ran over to him. Within seconds he had her in a strong embrace. "God, I was so scared something happened to you. You just left this morning and you didn't show up for any of your classes."  
  
"I'm sorry. Kari had to go to the hospital and I went with Tai," Sora replied.  
  
Matt felt insanely jealous, but pushed that feeling aside. "Kari? What happened to her?" He asked in his best leader tone.  
  
Sora looked away from him and over at Tai. Matt followed her gaze and he realized that it was Kari that Tai held in his arms. Matt looked at Tai. Tai knew he was there, but he didn't bother looking up. Instead he talked softly to Kari. Anger and the jealousy he had pushed back before came to his mind. Sora noticed the change of love to hatred in his eyes. "Don't. Not here. He had his reasons for leaving and once we get back you'll find out what they are."  
  
"You know?"  
  
"I've always known."  
  
"How-"   
  
She put a finger to his lips. "I grew up with them." The jealousy appeared in his eyes once more. "Stop it! For once forget what Tai used to mean to me and just trust me! Be the leader and lead us out of here!"  
  
"We may have a problem there. The other's are here, but I don't know where they are." He glanced over at Tai. "Does she even know what she is?"  
  
Sora shook her head. "She's not strong enough."  
  
"Not strong enough?! Does he think we were strong enough six years ago?! He's a god damned coward!"  
  
Sora slapped him. "You have no idea what you're talking about! Tai was a good leader! I forgave him! If you were in his position you would have done the same thing!"  
  
"What's his position then?!"  
  
"Kari is dying." Both Sora and Matt looked up to see Tai standing just a few feet away from them. Kari was leaning against a tree out of earshot. "She was born with a weak heart and its finally giving up. Six year ago I came back from camp and she was in the hospital. I found out that she was a Digidestined later that night from Gatomon. She would not have made it in the Digital World so I convinced my parents to take us and leave."  
  
"Tai, I-" Matt started. He suddenly felt like the lowest person on earth, no make that the universe.  
  
"And now Kari's heart is slowing and just giving up. It could be a matter of days until it just stops completely. Then it'll finally be all over. To be honest I don't care if you hate me or if you think I don't deserve your friendship because I don't care. I would have left a dozen times over to save her.  
  
"Your right," Matt replied. "I do hate you. I hate you for the fact that you couldn't trust us with this information. I hate you because you ran away without an explanation. And I hate you because you are a much better man, leader, and brother then I could ever be." Tai raised his eyebrows in shock. Matt held out his hand to Tai. "Friends?"  
  
Tai shook his hand. "Friends."  
  
"Guys, where's Kari?" Sora asked.   
  
Tai whipped around and looked over to where Kari had been sitting just moments before. She was gone.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kari knew she shouldn't have wandered off. Tai would be angry and worried. She had been sitting there, wondering what Tai, Matt and Sora were talking about and then suddenly was overcome by a newfound energy. Then when no one was looking she snuck off.   
  
As she came to the top of a hill she glanced around and surveyed the landscape. It was a beautiful green as far as the eye could see. Although far on her left she could see a huge ocean. This was the place she had always dreamed about going. It was so beautiful and big. No doctors, no hospitals; just open spaces where she could have an actual adventure before she died.  
  
Yes, she knew she was going to die. The doctors' faces gave it way six years ago. Tai's sad eyes told her everyday. The fact that her parents didn't bother to return to Japan told her to, but that hurt a little more.  
  
She didn't know why that hurt. Sure the fact that it was her parents that had given up on her, but that's what she wanted. Right? She didn't want anyone else to suffer; it was good that her parents had moved on. So, why couldn't Tai?  
  
"Kari…" Kari looked up at the sound of her name, but nothing was there. "Kari…" the wind seemed to call.  
  
"Um… what's going on? Who's there?" Kari asked. She walked forward a little and stopped.   
  
Looking down the side of the hill she saw someone lying on the ground. Slowly she walked towards them. As she got closer remembrance came to her mind. Ruffled golden hair covered by a stupid white hat. It was TK.  
  
Forgetting that she should go slow, she ran down the rest of the hill and dropped to her knees beside him. "TK!" She yelled. She reached out to touch him when something on her belt started beeping and a beam of light shot out from something around her neck.  
  
The light hit TK and formed a ball around him. The light intensified and Kari had to raise her hand to block her eyes. The light got brighter and brighter as Kari felt weaker and weaker.   
  
Suddenly the light ended. She opened her eyes and moved her hands away from her eyes. TK moved slightly before groaning in a dull voice. "TK?"   
  
TK sat up and for a moment was looking into the face of a pale angel. "Am I dead?"  
  
"TK?"  
  
TK rubbed his eyes. "Kari? Kari!" TK threw his arms around the young girl. "Where are we?"  
  
"Sora told me the Digital World, but I don't know what that is." Kari paused and saw a strange glint in his eyes. "Do you?"  
  
"Yes, I do." He reached up and picked up something from around her neck. "You see this?" She looked down and saw the pendant she had pulled from Tai's drawer around her neck. "This is yours. Its what brought you here. You're light. You are a Digidestined."  
  
"What's a Digidestined?"  
  
"They are kids who were Chosen to protect this place and earth. You are one of us."  
  
"Who's us?"  
  
"Joe, Mimi, my brother, Sora, Izzy, me, and your brother. And now you."  
  
"That's why you said Tai was your leader?" TK nodded. "How are we supposed to protect the Digital World?"  
  
"With our digimon partners."  
  
"What's a digimon?"  
  
"They're these things that live here. They're like animals. They are our partners and we are bonded to them."  
  
"Where are they?" TK's eye filled with tears. "What's wrong?  
  
He wiped them away. "They're gone. They died six years ago."  
  
"Six years ago?"  
  
"There was this big battle with this guy Myotismon. We had come back to earth to find you, but that had turned out very unsuccessful. And we lost our leader. Matt took over, but we still weren't as strong without Tai; he was our courage. So we fought him with all the strength we had. A year later and most of Odiaba destroyed we won, but our digimon all died. Every one of our partners."  
  
"We never died, TK," a strange little voice said.  
  
TK jumped a foot up in the air. "Aaaaa! Who said that?!" He yelled.   
  
"I did."   
  
TK looked around and then up. It was then he noticed a flying little mouse thing with bat wings on its head. "Patamon? Patamon! Its you!"  
  
"This way everyone!" The thing yelled to the distance before dive-bombing into TK's arms.  
  
"Patamon! Oh my god, I missed you! How'd you get here. You-you died!"  
  
"And I was reborn here in the Digital World."  
  
TK looked up at Kari who was staring at Patamon. "This is my digimon," TK said happily. "His name is Patamon. Patamon, this is Kari. She's the eighth child!"  
  
"Its nice to meet you," Patamon said. Kari smiled in response.   
  
"Are the others digimon alive too?" TK asked.  
  
"They sure are. Here they come now," Patamon replied as he pointed to the direction he had just come from. Both Kari and TK looked in that direction and saw seven little monsters running toward them.   
  
Kari watched in disbelief as each of the monsters gathered around them. A little orange dinosaur, a pink bird, a little plant, a blue dog with a horn in its head, a little bug, a little white seal thing, and last a little white cat with yellow gloves on. "I've met you before," Kari said to the cat.  
  
The small cat smiled a sad smile. "Yep."  
  
"Six years ago?" The cat nodded. "Tai brought you in and I…thought it was a dream."  
  
"I know. I did that so you wouldn't be sad," the cat replied.  
  
"Your Gatomon, right?" The cat nodded and before she knew what was happening Kari scooped her up into a huge hug. Gatomon was shock, but she didn't try to stop her.  
  
"Are our partners here?" The yellow lizard asked. TK nodded. "Then we have to find them! Let's go!" The other digimon pulled Kari and TK off the ground and forced them to lead the way.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sorry this took so long to get out! I'm dealing with major writer's block and I have no idea what I'm going to do with this fic! Please R/R!!!!  
  



	6. The Darkness Has Come For Me

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.  
A/N: Mimi never moved.   
  
  
A Changed Destiny  
  
  
"Kari! Kari!" Tai screamed hoping and praying Kari was okay. "Kari!" Tai bit his lip trying to hold back the tears that were building in his eyes. "Oh, god! Where is she?"  
  
"Tai, calm down. I'm sure she's fine," Sora tried to reassure him.  
  
"Yeah, Tai. She probably just saw flowers or something and walked over to pick'em or something," Matt cried from where he stood.  
  
"We have to find her!" Tai yelled back.  
  
"Then show us where to go," Matt replied.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're the leader. Lead us and find your sister. Give us the order."  
  
Tai looked away. "I can't."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I'm not the leader anymore. You are, I suppose."  
  
"Do I have to sock you in the face again? This is your sister! Stop being so afraid and do it!"  
  
Tai looked at Matt, wanting to believe he could do this task. Kari was everything to him; he had given up or lost everything else. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else. "Let's go!" He said as he felt a surge of energy rise from his heart. "We have to stay together. If all eight of us are lost in the Digital World we should stay together now and avoid losing anyone else."  
  
"There's the Tai we know and love!" Matt cried.  
  
"Let's go. Look out for the others!" Tai turned and started walking in the direction he thought Kari might have gone.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
TK and Kari followed the six digimon while carrying their digimon in her arms. Kari would stumble a little every so often, but Gatomon wad the only one who noticed. The little cat glanced up at her partner. "Are you okay?" She asked.  
  
"I'll be okay," Kari shrugged.   
  
"Tell TK that you need to rest!" Gatomon insisted.  
  
"No, I'm okay. I have to stay strong and prove to Tai that I am strong."  
  
"Proving you're strong doesn't mean hurt yourself even more then you already are," Gatomon replied. This just made Kari angry because she knew Gatomon was right.  
  
TK looked over at her. "She's right, we should rest."  
  
"How'd you know?" Kari asked.  
  
"Ever heard of whispering?" TK replied in a sarcastic tone. "We're stopping!"   
  
Kari sat down on the ground and stroked Gatomon softly. "It hurts a little, Gatomon," Kari said out of nowhere. She didn't know why she was saying it. She hated talking about her heart or her pain, but somehow it felt right telling Gatomon.  
  
"It might feel better talking to TK," Gatomon said as if reading her mind.  
  
Kari shook her head. "I'm not going to bother TK with this."  
  
"Bother TK with what?" A male voice said from behind. Kari twisted around and saw TK there. He sat down beside her and Patamon flew over and sat down on his hat.  
  
"Its nothing. We were just talking about stuff. I was wondering about this place and what you said," Kari shrugged.  
  
"Hey, what's that?" TK asked as he narrowed his eyes looking straight ahead.   
  
"What's what?" Kari asked.  
  
"That," TK replied pointing ahead towards a jet-black, swirling portal.   
  
Suddenly they began to slide towards it. "What's going on?" Kari yelled.  
  
"It's pulling us toward it!" TK screamed. Kari started to slide faster and the entrance got closer. "Kari!" TK reached out his hand to her.  
  
"TK! What's going on?" Kari yelled as she disappeared into the void of the portal. TK went in after her, followed by Gatmon and Patamon. Then the other digimon.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Tai kept his stride wide so he could stay in front of Sora and Matt. He did not want to see them holding hands or how Matt was all over her over protectively. It made him sick that he had given her up, but they both seemed very happy.  
  
"Matt, Sora!" A forced male voice cried. Tai looked over his shoulder to see Matt and Sora doing the same. Sora dropped Matt's hand and began to run the way they just came. Tai ran back to Matt and saw that Izzy, Mimi, and Joe were in the path. Joe was helping to hold Izzy to his feet.  
  
"God, are you guys alright?" Sora asked as she help set Izzy on the ground.  
  
"Just a Monochromon with a bad temper. Nothing we couldn't run screaming from," Joe joked.  
  
"Well, we ran after he hit me with an attack," Izzy cringed as he rubbed his leg.  
  
Mimi looked over at Tai and Matt. "So we're all here," she said, implying that Tai was there. Matt nodded. "Where's TK?"  
  
"What do you mean, where's TK? Isn't he with you?" Matt asked.   
  
"No, he wasn't there when we woke up. We assumed he was with you," Joe replied.  
  
"Maybe he's with Kari," Sora spoke up as she helped Joe with Izzy's leg.  
  
"Yeah, he'll be okay," Mimi added.   
  
"I don't care! I have to find him," Matt yelled. "The rest of you stay here with Izzy I'm going." Matt turned to leave.  
  
  
"Wait Matt!" Sora yelled. Matt stopped and looked back at her. "I think Tai was right when he said we should stick together. The Digital World is way too big and easy to get lost in. Can you walk, Izzy?"  
  
Izzy cringed in pain, but nodded anyway. "Yeah. Let's go." Joe and Sora helped him to his feet and the group began to walk forward again.   
  
This time Matt kept Tai's pace. "Does it feel like before?" Matt asked.  
  
Tai glanced back at the other's. "A little. But I'm trying not to think about it. I just want to get my sister and go home." Tai looked around. "Where are our digimon?"  
  
Matt bit his lip. He didn't want to relive it in his mind, but Tai had to know. "Tai, they're gone."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
TK moved barely an inch and felt instantly overcome by pain. "Oh, man…" He mumbled. "What happened?" He forced his pained eyes open and glanced around. He was in a world of complete darkness. Inches away he saw Kari lying unconscious. He crawled over to her. "Kari? Come on, Kari, get up," he whispered. She groaned and moved her head slightly. "Kari, get up."  
  
"I can't, TK," she whispered. "It hurts."  
  
"What hurts?" He helped her sit up and held her tightly in his arms. Her eyelids drooped heavily as she forced herself to stay up.   
  
"Everything. My head, my arms, my legs…my chest," she coughed. "What happened?"  
  
"I don't know. The last thing I remember is that weird portal." TK looked around. "I have no idea where we are," he admitted.  
  
"Are we in the Digital World still?" Kari asked, fearful she was separated from Tai by two different worlds.   
  
"OF COURSE YOU ARE!" A loud voice boomed. "Your just in another part of it! The world where I have been banished to!"  
  
"W-who are you?" TK yelled as he tightened his hold protectively of Kari.  
  
"I am Apocalymon!" The voice cried.  
  
"Where are you?! Come out so we can see you!"  
  
"Fine!" Suddenly a giant monster appeared. TK stared up at it and almost fell backwards.  
  
"Y-your Apocalymon? Don't tell me you want to destroy us!" TK groaned a little.   
  
"Of course not! I want the Child of Light!" He yelled. "Without Light the digital world is only darkness. I've been waiting years for her to become the weakling she is now. In her frail state I will corrupt her easily and take over the digital world. Then I will destroy you stupid Digidestined!"  
  
"Her frail state? She's as strong as anyone of us!" TK yelled. He looked down at Kari who had gone slack in his arms. "Right?" He whispered under his breath. "Where are our digimon?"  
  
"You mean these?" He pointed across the great darkness. High in the air, in a pool of light, laid Patamon and Gatomon. Both of them were struggling to get up, but an invisible force kept them down.   
  
"Patamon!" TK yelled.  
  
Gatomon looked up at TK's voice and saw Kari in TK's arms. "Kari!"   
  
"Hand over the girl!" Apocalymon extended a huge had to TK.  
  
"Never!" TK held on to Kari tighter and she let out a soft groan.  
  
"Do you actually think you can stop me?" Yelled Apocalymon.   
  
TK continued to stare up fearlessly at the digimon towering over him. "I won't give up hope that I can."  
  
"Ah, yes, the Child of Hope. Pitiful, aren't you?" TK didn't say a word. "Hope is nothing here in the digital world. Power is everything! And right now you have none! Your digimon is useless against me and you can't even reach him. Your team is lost in the Digital World, dying somewhere."  
  
"NO! That's not true!" TK yelled in frustration.  
  
"Just let me have the girl and you can go free."  
  
"Never!"  
  
"Don't defy me!" One giant arm made contact to the side of TK's face and sent him flying backwards. "You don't know how sick I am of being ignored! Being forced back by the light was pain enough! But now I will murder the light and force the Digital World into darkness forever!" Apocalymon slowly approached Kari with a vicious glint in his eyes.  
  
"Kari!" TK tried to get up, but an overwhelming pain in his head kept him down. "Stay way from her!"  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Tai pulled his telescope from his pocket and surveyed the scene from the cliff he stood on. As far as he could see there was nothing. No signs of his sister or Matt's brother. He put his hand down to his side and sighed heavily. "I am such a coward. I let Agumon die. I disappointed my friends. I didn't watch Kari. I let everyone down." He put the telescope in his pocket. "I can't do anything right."  
  
"I strongly disagree with you there," a voice said from behind. Tai glanced back and saw Izzy hobbling toward him.  
  
"You couldn't just have said you're wrong Tai?" Tai asked, slightly annoyed. "And you're wrong too."  
  
"I let everyone down! I failed."  
  
Izzy put a hand on his shoulder. "No, you didn't. Matt and Sora told us what happened. I'm sorry."  
  
Tai smacked his hand away. "I don't need or want your pity!" He cried. "Just stay way from me! I just have to find Kari and then I'll be out of your hair. For good hopefully!"  
  
"Tai, you can't possibly mean that," Izzy argued.   
  
"But I do," Tai replied. "Ever since I came to have knowledge of the Digital World it's been one pain after another!" He looked away from Izzy and looked across the digital world. "First fighting and having to lead and make all the decision! That was the stupidest decision anyone ever made. Me in charge! I couldn't lead us to a volcano in hell!" He laughed bitterly.   
  
"Tai, you know that's not true," Izzy replied. "You were a good-"  
  
"Save your crap for someone who will believe it!" Tai pushed past him and quickly walked away.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Apocalymon reached an enormous hand toward Kari. The blackness all around him began to get darker. "What's going on?" TK yelled.   
  
Apocalymon looked up at him, stopping his action to pick up Kari. "Your friend is falling apart. He's sinking into darkness. Soon his soul will be mine and he will no longer be a Digidestined."  
  
"Who?" TK asked.  
  
Apocalymon turned to him. "Your leader."  
  
"M-Matt? NO! That's not true!" TK yelled.  
  
"Of course its not true! Because he is not your pathetic leader!"  
  
"T-Tai?" Kari forced as she sat up.  
  
Apocalymon looked down at the trembling and pale girl. "Of course. You are a smart one, aren't you? Your brother believes he is a failure and he is! As he sinks further and further he becomes consumed by darkness. He will be mine!"  
  
"No…my-my brother is s-strong!" Kari forced out. She erupted into a fit of coughs before continuing. "You could never take him!"  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"TAI! IZZY!" Matt yelled. Tai walked out of the woods toward him and Izzy hobbled out after him. "We got a trace on the digivices." Tai smiled, slightly, pretending to be interested. "There are ten signals and then one big one."  
  
"Ten signals? Why would there be ten signals?" Izzy asked. Everyone shrugged.  
  
"Let's go. Why would we get a signal unless it was TK and Kari?" Sora asked.  
  
"Come on," Matt stepped forward, staring at his digivice like it was a compass. The others followed and Tai watched them. He hadn't moved from his position and for some reason he didn't want to follow at all.  
  
"Why do I feel like this?" He asked himself. "Why am I doing this?" He began to walk away from the others, just like he had done all those years ago. Was it because he was a coward? Sure it was. Six years ago he had walked away and let his friends face an evil more powerful then even he could imagine. Now he was doing it again. He was backing way from what was most likely his sister and another enemy. "I failed." He began to run.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
TK finally forced himself off the black floor and ran to Kari. He scooped her up off the ground and held her tightly. "Don't listen to a thing he says!" He coached as she wrapped her arms around him. "He's lying."  
  
"TK, will we be okay?" Kari asked.  
  
"No, you will not be alright! You are to die, Light!" Apocalymon yelled.  
  
TK let go of Kari and moved in front of her. "You can't touch her! I won't let you!"  
  
"Didn't we go through this before? You can't stop me! Just get out of my way and you're free! Hand over the girl!"   
  
"NEVER!" Apocalymon backhanded TK once more.   
  
"TK!" Kari cried.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sora glanced over her shoulder, wondering why Tai had not attempted to catch up to Matt. Her eyes surveyed wildly. "MATT!" The group stopped and looked back at her. "Tai's gone!"  
  
"What?" Matt yelled.   
  
"Do you think he abandon us again?" Mimi asked.  
  
"I don't know. I doubt it," Matt replied.  
  
"What do we do now, Matt?" Joe asked.  
  
Matt felt suddenly selfish. "We have to go on! TK is out there!" The other's agreed and continued to follow him.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
Tai walked though a dark forest. He had left his friends hours or maybe just minutes before. He hadn't kept track of the time. He kept babbling about being a coward and a failure as the forest around him grew darker and darker. He didn't notice any of it though. He continued looking straight at the ground.   
  
Suddenly his digivice went off and he looked up. Just a few feet ahead was a complete black doorway. He walked toward and stopped. He extended his arm and reached inside it and his hand disappeared inside. He pulled it back out and waved it in front of his face. It was still whole.  
  
He turned back to it and continued in. He looked back when he was fully inside the portal and saw that the opening was gone.   
  
"TK!" A voice yelled. Tai looked in the direction of the voice; it sounded so familiar. Across a huge darkness Kari laid on the ground with a huge dark digimon standing over her. Another body laid sprawled on the floor a meter or so from them. "TK!" Kari yelled again.   
  
"Kari!" Tai started running toward her. Both her and the large digimon looked over at him. He wrapped his arms around Kari tightly.  
  
"Tai, you aren't evil! Please don't go dark, Tai!" Kari sobbed.  
  
"What? What are you talking about?" Tai asked.  
  
"She's talking about me!" The large digimon replied. Tai looked up at him as he made a strange motion in the air with a huge hand. Slowly his hand turned into a fist as he made a quick slice through the air.   
  
Tai felt as if two hands had wrapped around his neck and were slowly squeezing. He let go of Kari as he felt the invisible hands tighten. He choked for air. "Tai? Tai!" Kari screamed.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Finally, part 6! Thank you for all those who yelled at me to get going. That includes you Kaily-chan and Sydney. Thanks I needed to get going! I hope you liked this part. Sorry it took so long.  



	7. Please Brother, Don't Go

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.  
A/N: Mimi never moved. Here's the next part. Damn it! This took too long! (Oops I think I just made this fic PG-13! That's okay, there are other (worse) words that I would rather say.) I was working on it this part all day at school. Mostly is spanish 'cuz we do nothing in there! But I had a whole page written out and guess what! My sister ripped it out of my notebook, spilled soda on it and lost it. God I am going to strangle her! She is so lucky she's sleeping over at a friends house! Or else she would be dead. Damn I'm pissed!   
  
A Changed Destiny  
  
Tai didn't even notice Kari's scream. He choked for air as he felt his mind being to shut down.   
  
"Tai! Tai!" Kari screamed. His face was turning blue, but no one was touching him.  
  
Suddenly the squeezing stopped and Tai took a deep breath of relief. He erupted into a fit of painful coughs. "Tai," Kari moved over to him and helped him sit up.   
  
"Get away from him!" Apocalymon picked up Kari and began squeezing her. She cried out in pain. "You cannot bring light to the darkness in his heart."  
  
"Kar-" Tai felt a something wrap around his mind. It stopped him from jumping up and running to Kari. 'What's happening?' he asked himself.  
  
"Kari!" TK forced himself off the ground and began running toward the huge digimon that he knew he could never do damage too. But he kept on; his hope forced him to keep on. (Quick note from author: How crappy are the lines getting? Is this total B.S. or are you okay with it?)  
  
Suddenly his digivice began to beep and a light exploded from it. The light hit Patamon who was still stuck battling the invisible force that held him down. The small little digimon stopped struggling. "Patamon digivolve to…"  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Matt continued forward pushing himself to his limits. Sora tried to keep up his pace, but had long since given up. Now she and the others were far behind.   
  
'Gotta find TK… Gotta find TK… Gotta find TK…" He repeated over and over again. The sound of his digivice beeping broke his trance. He ripped it off his belt loop and looked at it like a compass like before. It pointed straight ahead. He began walking a little faster before going into a trot, then a full out run. Behind him he could hear Sora yelling for him to stop or slow down, but he ignored her.  
  
He slowed upon seeing a huge black, swirling portal. Was this where TK was? As he stepped closer the beeping got a little louder. He didn't hesitate before stepping through the darkness.  
  
Once he was inside he glanced around. Darkness surrounded him, everyway he looked. Except, way off in one direction there was a bright light. Matt looked a little closer and saw the light was from an Angemon. He was floating in the air over a tall blond haired boy, TK. Beside TK was Tai who was on his hands and knees grimacing in pain. And before them stood a huge digimon holding Kari in one huge hand.   
  
Matt ran over to TK and Tai. "Tai, what's wrong?"  
  
Tai could hear Matt say something, but he couldn't seem to think straight. There was only one thing on his mind. "Get… Kari…" He forced.  
  
Matt looked over at the large monster holding Kari in one large hand. Tears streamed down her face as she grimaced in pain. He looked over at TK. "Is that your Angemon?" TK nodded. "Then save her!"  
  
TK didn't hesitate. "Angemon!"  
  
"HAND OF FATE!" The angel yelled.   
  
The attack hit Apocalymon without much effect. He smirked. "You cannot defeat me. But I cannot have you messing up any of my plans." He did the same hand motion he had done before. Suddenly all the pain Tai had been feeling stopped. Instead bitterness and anger filled his mind. "Yes you can feel the darkness, can't you?" Tai nodded. "Then show me."  
  
A little orange dinosaur appeared next to Tai. He looked bewildered and angry. "Agumon?" Tai asked.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sora followed the trial that Matt had gone hoping to find him. "Sora, do you see him?" Joe yelled.  
  
"No, do you?" She called back.   
  
"No, but we'll keep looking. I'm sure we'll find him," Mimi yelled.   
  
"Okay," she sighed. She was worried; this wasn't like Matt at all. Sure he worried about TK, but after the battle with Myotismon he never been one to run off like this. He wouldn't have run off from his friends like this. He even had said that before. His exact quote being 'I'm not going to be like Tai and walk away.'  
  
Up ahead something caught her eye. A swirling black portal standing like a door. Sora slowly approached it as her digivice started beeping. She didn't notice it at all. "Joe, Izzy, Mimi! Come quick!"  
  
Her friends ran up beside her. Izzy hobbled up behind them. "Look," Sora said pointing at portal. "I think that's where he went."  
  
"Why do you say that?" Izzy asked.  
  
"I don't know. I just think so," Sora replied.   
  
"Then let's go," Mimi said as she pushed Joe through the portal and he disappeared. "Well, someone had to test it," she shrugged.  
  
Sora and Izzy giggled before stepping through the portal. When Mimi came through Joe ran up to her and wrapped his arms around her tightly. "That wasn't very nice," he laughed as he kissed her cheek.  
  
"Shut up!" Izzy cried. "Look." He pointed across a huge darkness. Far away three humans stood. Plus a huge monster, an orange dinosaur and an angel floating in the air. None of them seemed to notice the four that had just entered the dark world.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The little dino smiled and jumped into the boy's arms. "Tai!"   
  
"Enough!" Apocalymon yelled. "Destroy them!" He pointed to TK, Matt and Angemon.  
  
"Never!" Tai yelled.  
  
"Do it!" Apocalymon clenched his fist and Tai fell to the ground convulsing in pain. He unclenched his hand and Tai stopped convulsing. "I said destroy them!"  
  
Tai opened his eyes. Matt looked at him and saw his eyes were dark. As if all life had been sucked from his body. "I am your servant," he mumbled, his voice completely monotone. He pulled his digivice off his belt and held it up. "Agumon digivolve!"  
  
"Tai-" The little dino was cut off by a bright light exploding from Tai's digivice. When the light disappeared he was gone replaced by a huge skeleton dinosaur.   
  
Matt stared up at the huge Digimon. "Skullgreymon," he whispered. He had forgotten how big the corrupt digimon was. He had forgotten the nightmares that came with him.   
  
Skullgreymon reached for TK and Matt. Angemon didn't waste a moment. "Angel rod!" The angel screamed. (Is it just me or does that attack sound really nasty? Sorry, I let my sick and twisted mind take over…) The attack knocked Skullgreymon's bony hand away from TK and Matt. He roared in anger and pain. He whipped around and smacked Angemon out of the air.  
  
"Angemon!" TK screamed as he ran to the fallen angel.  
  
"Matt!" A voice called. Matt looked up and saw Sora running towards him. Mimi and Joe were right behind her and Izzy followed too, but he was a considerable distance behind. She threw her arms around him. "Matt what's going on?"  
  
"That's Apocalymon. He has Kari in his hand and he has control over Tai's mind," he whispered back just loud enough for Joe, Izzy, Mimi and Sora to hear.  
  
"Skullgreymon, destroy them!" Apocalymon yelled. Skullgreymon looked over at the huge digimon screaming at him. He launched a bomb off his back and it hit Apocalymon. He screamed in pain. "You fool! Don't attack me! Attack those foolish Digidestined." Skullgreymon launch another attack at Apocalymon and hit him without much effort. This time as Apocalymon yelled out in pain he dropped Kari from his hand.  
  
"Kari!" Gatomon yelled. As Kari screamed a beam of light shot from her digivice and hit the white cat. "Gatomon digivolve to…" As the light disappeared so had the cat. In her place was a beautiful angel. "Angewomon." She lifted off the ground and caught Kari before she hit the black floor. She flew the girl back to where TK was kneeling on the floor beside Angemon. She set Kari down and turned to TK. "Take care of her. We have a job to do." She reached down and touched the unconscious Angemon. Angemon stirred a little before sitting up. Angewomon helped him off the ground before taking off with Angemon in hot pursuit.  
  
Matt watched as the two digimon lifted off the ground. They began launching attacks between Apocalymon and Skullgreymon. He turned his gaze toward Tai. Tai was screaming at Skullgreymon and as the huge skeleton monster ignored his words they hit Matt like a ton of bricks. Each brick peaked his anger a little more.   
  
"No, not him, you idiot!" Yelled Tai. "Not him! Destroy the humans! He is your master! Do not disobey him! You want to go after the humans!"  
  
Skullgreymon continued to ignore him and Matt pulled his angered gaze away from Tai. This wasn't Tai. Tai wouldn't go this far! He would never call his digimon an idiot or tell him to attack his friends.  
  
Matt glanced back at TK. He was kneeling next to Kari whispering something to her and holding her hand. She was lying unconscious on the black floor, but her unconscious state didn't stop her body from withering in pain.   
  
Matt's eyes moved over to Izzy, Mimi and Joe. The trio was staring up at Apocalymon and Skullgreymon, who were currently duking it out between them. Joe had pushed Mimi protectively behind him and Izzy.  
  
Finally Matt's eye moved down to Sora who was in his arms. She was watching Tai with the same pain in her eyes that she had six years ago when she said Tai had left. She looked so angry and hurt that Matt wanted to go over and beat the crap out of Tai right then and there. But that's not what Sora wanted and that wasn't what was best for the group.  
  
Matt turned to look up at Angemon and Angewomon once more. "Stop hitting Skullgreymon! We'll worry about him later! Aim all your attacks at Apocalymon." The two angels launched their attacks at Apocalymon. Each hit their mark with a satisfying cry of pain from the hurt digimon. Skullgreymon was doing most of the work, but the two angels help a little.  
  
"Tai!" Matt screamed. He let go of Sora and walked over to the brown haired brown. Tai looked at him with empty brown eyes. "This isn't you Tai. What's going on with you?"  
  
"It does not matter what you say to him. His heart is already so consumed by darkness he is lost to you," Apocalymon yelled, still focused on his fight with Skullgreymon.  
  
"Tai, I know you can hear me!" Matt yelled. "You are not consumed by darkness! You are still our leader. You are still our friend. You are not Apocalymon's servant!"  
  
"But I am."  
  
"No, you're not! You're nothing like Apocalymon! Because I know you care about your friends and you know this is wrong!" Matt screamed. Tai's dark eyes never changed. Matt clenched his fist in frustration. 'Can't fight, that's not the answer,' he thought. 'There has to be a way to get through to him?' "Apocalymon is a monster! Look what he did to Kari." He pointed to Kari and his brother. She still lay unconscious on the black floor with TK holding her hand tightly and whispering to her. He never took his eyes off of her the entire time. "That's your sister! She's hurt! Are you going to let her die? Or are you going to help us?" Tai's eyes soften. "In or out?"  
  
"I'm-" He gritted his teeth as his eyes hardened once again. "Never going to be in!" He swung a gloved fist at Matt in rage.  
  
Matt blocked the shot and punched Tai in the stomach before he could stop himself. Tai doubled over. "It was your choice."  
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So what did y'all think of this part? Please Read and Review, I'm begging you! Till the next part, later dayz!   



	8. ...and if I die....

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.  
A/N: Mimi never moved.   
  
A Changed Destiny  
  
Kari stirred slightly. She could hear someone whispering something, but it sounded far away. "It'll be okay. We're gonna get out of here." The voice paused. "We're gonna get out of this alive. I promise, we'll get through this."  
  
Her eyes shot open and she tried to figure out where she was. "Tai. Where's Tai?" TK loomed over her. "TK? What happened?"  
  
"You fell unconscious. And I mean you literally fell," he replied. He tried to make it a joke, but at the moment they both forgot how to laugh. She tried to sit up, but the attempt was futile and she was consumed by pain. She clutched her chest tightly, praying for the pain to ease off. "Don't move," TK whispered softly as he took her hand in his.   
  
"It hurts," she stated. "Where's Tai?"  
  
TK looked down at her with pained eyes. "Kari, he's-"  
  
Yelling cut him off. "You cannot defeat me!" Apocalymon screamed. It was obvious he was losing the battle against Skullgreymon. "I may die, but not before that girl does!" He yelled indicating Kari.  
  
Kari made another attempt to sit up. This time TK didn't refuse her request and helped her. He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and sat behind her so she could lay against him.  
  
"Tai," Apocalymon yelled. "Destroy her! Prove how evil you are!"  
  
Tai straightened up, catching Matt off guard, and punched the blond boy in the nose. Matt gripped his bleeding nose and Tai punched him in the stomach. Tai immediately turned away from him and toward TK and Kari. He didn't even notice that Sora and Mimi were instantly by Matt's side. Joe and Izzy slowly moved up behind Tai, but TK waved for them to stay back a little.  
  
"Tai?" Kari asked.  
  
"Don't even think about touching her," TK warned. He let go of her, making sure she was stable before standing up and placing himself between Kari and Tai.   
  
"Who do you think your talking to? I'm her brother. And you're younger then me." Tai grabbed TK by the collar of his shirt. "Out of my way, pip squeak!" He pushed TK to the ground. He approached Kari with a sadistic smile plastered on his face. "Hey kiddo."   
  
"Tai, please don't hurt me," Kari begged, close to tears.  
  
"I won't hurt you," he replied. "Much."  
  
He reached down to pick her up, but something tackled him to the floor. "I said don't touch her!" Tai felt someone flip him over and saw TK looking down at him. TK punched the older boy in the lip. "You'll have to get through me to get to her." (How cliché is that?)  
  
Tai smirked and sent the younger boy flying back with one kick to the stomach. "Some protector you are. You failed, just like I did." He pushed himself off the floor and kicked TK in the side.  
  
Suddenly something grabbed his arms and held him back. He struggled to look over his shoulder and saw Joe holding his arms back. "Back off Tai," he warned.  
  
"No," he struggled violently.  
  
Joe kicked Tai's feet out from under him, sending him crashing to the floor with a cry of pain. "Stop Tai."  
  
"Haha, I have won!" Came a loud thundering voice. Everyone looked up and saw Apocalymon towering over a fallen Agumon triumphant. "You will pay for your insubordination!" He looked down at the weakened orange lizard. "Trump Sword!" The sword hit the little digimon causing him to groan in pain.   
  
"Agumon," Tai cried as he stopped struggling with Joe. "Leave him alone!"  
  
"I said destroy her, you incompetent fool!" Apocalymon screamed back pointing at Kari.   
  
Tai closed his eyes like he was in pain. "No, I can't hurt her. Please don't make me."  
  
"Tai, what's going on?" Joe asked still holding Tai to the floor.   
  
"He-he's trying to get in my head. He won't let go. And the pain- agh!" Tai straightened up and screamed.  
  
Joe let go of Tai and dropped to his knees beside him. "Tai! Tai!" Tai stopped screaming and flinching and just laid on the ground with his eyes closed. "Tai, what's happening?"  
  
"Leave him alone! You can't get through to him!" Apocalymon roared as he reached down and lifted Joe up in one big hand. He squeezed the boy for a moment before throwing him aside like a rag doll.  
  
"Joe!" Mimi gasped as tears came to her eyes. She ran over to the blue haired boy and dropped beside him with Izzy and next to her. "Joe," she whispered as she placed a hand on his arm. He just lay on the floor, unmoving and unconscious. "No, Joe. Please wake up."  
  
Tai pushed himself off the floor, ignoring Mimi's cries and TK's groans of pain and Sora's voice trying to talk to Matt. All he heard was the voice of Apocalymon in his head telling him to get Kari. 'No, this is wrong. Kari, I can't hurt Kari,' he protested. But the pain, the horrible pain that would come if he objected scared him. 'No, I would take anything to protect Kari.' Tai forced his feet to stop.   
  
"Don't you dare challenge me!" Apocalymon swung and hit Tai sending him flying forward a few feet. Now he was just feet away from Kari.  
  
"Tai?" She called. "Tai, get up! Please don't be hurt!"   
  
"I said kill her," Apocalymon repeated.  
  
'Darkness in my head. Everywhere. Nothing, but darkness. Kari is light; she could save me. No, I'm too far gone. Apocalymon said it himself. Kill the light; feed the darkness. No, that's wrong. What's wrong, what's right?' Things floating around in Tai's head refused to allow him off the black floor. 'Fight it; too weak to fight. I failed; I'm not the leader. I lost it; I lost everything. I kill Kari, my everything, and I'll have lost it. I can't, I won't. Don't defy; can't defy. Pain, no more pain. She's in pain; I can't stop her pain. I hurt Sora; I failed her. I left Matt to pick up my burden; he's changed; he's different. I changed him with my lack of caring and responsibility. Izzy, Joe, and Mimi; they use to back me up; now what? Gone, all gone. What's the point? End now, walk away. Nowhere to go. Kill the light and feed the darkness. Feed my empty soul. Nothing left, nothing.'  
  
Tai forced himself off the ground. His eyes were hard, no life appear ant. Darkness. "Tai?" Kari asked as she looked up at her brother. She wished she could stand and run, but her legs wouldn't work. They were too weak. She felt drained and her chest hurt. It was a bearable level, but pain is pain. It stops you. "Taichi?"  
  
Tai could hear her speak. Her voice was low and full of fear. Her eyes shown with her hidden pain. She trembled. 'No, I can't do this.' But he wasn't in control. His hand shot out and picked up Kari by the arm. He gripped her arm tightly; too tight, tears were building in her eyes already. There would be bruises.   
  
"Please don't hurt me, Tai," she cried as she looked up at him wide-eyed. "I'm sorry. Whatever I did I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken those things from your drawer. Please, Tai, I'm sorry, I swear." Tears streamed down her face.  
  
'No, you did do anything wrong! I did, I failed you.' Tai thought. He threw her to the floor hard. She cried out. 'No, I have to stop. I have to save her. Can't hurt her.' He walked over to her and picked her up. She was crying harder now. So hard she was choking. 'I can't do it. I won't do it.' Tai wrapped his arms tightly around Kari as they both sank to the ground. "I am so sorry. I'm so sorry," he cried tears filling his eyes in shame. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."  
  
"Tai, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Kari sobbed into his shirt.  
  
"Don't be sorry. None of this is your fault. Don't think like that!" Tai argued. Kari started choking again and her breathing got ragged. "Calm down."  
  
"You fool! Why do you fight me? You will die!" Apocalymon yelled as he pulled Kari from Tai's arms.   
  
"Kari!" Tai screamed. "No!"  
  
"Tai!" Kari screamed back. She was about to call his name again, but Apocalymon started to crush her in his hand once again.   
  
"I will kill that light," Apocalymon announced, closing his fist tighter around Kari. She screamed in pain.  
  
"Kari!" Angewomon screamed. "Celestial Arrow!" She launched the attack, but it hit Apocalymon without an effect. He whipped around and knocked the angel out of the air. She landed with a devastating crash.  
  
Kari gave another cry before she silenced completely. "Kari?" Tai yelled. Kari hung limply in Apocalymon's hand. "Kari, no! Wake up! Please!"  
  
Apocalymon laughed. "Darkness won, boy. The Digidestined have failed." He allowed Kari to fall from his hand and she landed on the black ground with a soft thud.   
  
"No," Tai shook his head in disbelief. "No." He ran over to her and dropped to his knees. "Kari, wake up. Come on, wake up! This isn't funny! I'm sorry! Please don't go! Kari, please!" He cried. Tears streamed down his face. She wasn't breathing. "Kari." He sat back. She was gone. He had lost her. "I'm sorry," he whispered.  
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Well, there's part 8. Sorry about the shortness, but its 11:30 and I have school tomorrow. Please read and review. I really would like to know what you thought of Tai's speech, where he's battling himself. I really need the reviews! Please. Til next time, later dayz!  



	9. I'm Proud Of You

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.  
A/N: Mimi never moved.   
  
A Changed Destiny  
  
Sora helped Matt to his feet and they walked up behind Tai. TK shuddered in pain before forcing himself off the floor. Izzy sat beside an unconscious Joe, watching Tai. Mimi continued to cry, holding Joe's hand in hers.  
  
"I have won!" Apocalymon cheered. No one heard him though. Everyone was frozen, watching Kari and Tai.  
  
"She's gone," Tai announced as he lifted her up.  
  
"NO!" TK ran over and landed beside them. "Kari! Kari please! Come on! My promise! I can't break my promise now!" He grabbed her hand.  
  
Matt and Sora locked hands. They both came to their knees next to TK, Tai, and Kari's small body. TK turned and collapsed into Sora's arms still holding Kari's hand. Matt set a hand on Tai's shoulder.  
  
"I did this!" Tai whispered. "This is my fault."  
  
"How? You didn't kill her," Matt replied.  
  
"I almost did. How could I-" He stopped himself, all he could do was choke on his own tears. His tears slid down his face and hit his crest causing it to glow slightly.  
  
Absently TK reached down and clutched his crest tightly. Sora fingered hers lightly as Matt held his in his hand. Friendship, Love, Courage, Hope, and Light were all touching; all connected. Across from them Knowledge, Sincerity, and Reliability were united.   
  
The light that had escaped the crest of Courage was joined by light sparking from all the other crests. All except Light.  
  
"What the-" Apocalymon never got to finish. The sudden amount of light radiating off of the seven children blinded him and sent him sprawling backward. When he opened his eyes again he saw the darkness was gone; the world had been drenched in white light. Standing by each of the human children were their digimon partners. "How'd you-"  
  
"You killed my sister! You bastard!" Tai yelled. "You will pay for it!" He laid Kari gently on the ground. He stood up, followed by Matt, then Sora, then TK. Mimi and Izzy stood up behind them, followed by a groggy, but awake Joe.   
  
"What can you and your measly little digi partners do? I am a mega! None of you can reach that level! I have already one!"  
  
"Like hell you have!" Matt replied. "You don't mess with a Digidestined!"  
  
"Agumon! Digivolve!" Tai yelled. The little yellow-orange dinosaur was trapped inside a beam of light that shot from Tai's digivice.   
  
"Gabumon, let's go!" Matt yelled at the blue and white dog beside him. Upon seeing his digimon partner his heart leaped in remembrance and longing to hug his first real friend.  
  
"Alright Matt!" Gabumon yelled as he too disappeared from a beam of light that shot from Matt's digivice.   
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A promise is a promise and I broke it,' TK thought as he watched as his brother advanced on Apocalymon beside Tai. 'I can't give up my hope now. There's still a chance Kari might be…' A small light shot from his digivice and hit his brother and Tai in the back just as their digimon began to digvolve.  
  
"Agumon warp digivolve to…" Agumon called out as he disappeared into a pillar of light.  
  
"Gabumon warp digivolve to…" Gabumon mimicked.  
  
"WarGreymon!"   
  
"MetalGarurrmon!"   
  
"What? How'd you do that?" Tai yelled. Wargreymon shrugged. "Well, it doesn't matter. Get him!"   
  
Wargreymon launched himself off the ground and held up his hand. "Terraforce!" A huge orange ball appeared in his hands and discharged at Apocalymon.  
  
"Metal Wolf Claw!" A blast sprouted from MetalGarurrumon's mouth and hit Apocalymon. He cried out in pain, but there was no real damage from either attack.  
  
"We need the rest of you!" Matt yelled back at his friends. Each looked down at their digimon partners and they exchanged a nod. All five held up their digivices.  
  
"Palmon digivolve to…"  
  
"Gomamon digivolve to…"  
  
"Tentomon digivolve to…"  
  
"Biyomon digivolve to…"  
  
"Angemon digivolve to…" 'Wait, what is Angemon doing?' TK thought. 'He can't go any farther than champion.'  
  
"Togemon."  
  
"Ikkukumon."  
  
"Kabuterimon."  
  
"Birdramon."  
  
Tai looked around at the new powers they had just acquired. "Matt, he's too strong. This isn't enough."  
  
"Right," Matt replied. "Again!"  
  
"Lillymon."  
  
"Zudomon."  
  
"MegaKabuterimon."  
  
"Garudumon."  
  
TK watched where Angemon had disappeared into a pillar of light. He had not yet emerged even though the other digimon had gone through two transformations. The light suddenly disappeared and a large angel floated in the air. "A-Angemon?"  
  
"I am MagnaAngemon."  
  
"Wow," TK mumbled in awe.  
  
"Let's go!" Tai screamed.  
  
"Flower Cannon."  
  
"Vulcan's Hammer."  
  
"Horn Buster."  
  
"Wing Blaze."  
  
"Terra Force."  
  
"Metal Wolf Claw."  
  
Every attack hit Apocalymon. He let out a howl of pain that made the Digidestined fall to their knees holding their hands over their ears. Apocalymon growled as two claws connected two chains shot from his body. One of the claws grabbed hold of Tai by the neck and the other grabbed Matt. "Don't attack or they will die."  
  
"Matt!" Sora screamed.  
  
"Angel Rod!" A blast of light hit the chain connecting to Matt's neck and made it dissolve. A second blast that was aimed at Tai's chained missed.  
  
"Attack!" Tai screamed as he tugged on the claw around his neck. "DO IT!" He yelled after the digimon hesitated.   
  
The digimon launched their attacks at Apocalymon and Tai felt the claw tightened. 'Why?' Apocalymon called in Tai's head. "Why'd you order you death like that?'  
  
"You killed my sister," Tai forced feeling the metal on his throat tighten again. "I have nothing else, she was my everything. I will take your life for taking yours!"  
  
"Gate Of Destiny!" MagnaAngemon yelled. Apocalymon began to get pulled toward the gate as the other digimon continued to launch attacks. Unfortunately he continued to Pull Tai with him.   
  
"Tai!" Sora yelled. "Aim all the attacks at the chain!"  
  
The digimon did as they were told. The chain soon began to thin and grow frail. It snapped as Apocalymon was pulled through MaganAngemon's gate. Tai fell back and watched as light exploded from the gate and blinded him.  
  
He blinked again. The black world was gone. He was staring up at a ceiling. He forced himself to sit up and saw Sora lying beside him on the floor of his dark room. The only light was coming from the computer monitor that was on. "Kari!" He jumped to him feet and saw his little sister lying on the bottom bunk of the bed. There was a noise behind him and he saw Sora had stood up and she had moved up behind him. He moved up to Kari and placed a hand on her cheek. She was warm. He felt for a pulse, there was none. He glanced back at Sora and shook his head. Her eyes filled with tears.  
  
"Taichi," she whispered as she put her arms around his neck. He buried his face in her shoulder as his tears escaped his eyes.   
  
"I have to take her to the hospital," he said. He pulled away and fumbled for his keys that were on the dresser.   
  
Sora pulled the keys from his hand. "I'm gonna drive."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Tai sat in the waiting room of the hospital with his face in his hands. Sora sat beside Matt, holding his hand. The other Digidestined had figured they would come to the hospital and were there when the three got there. Joe sat beside Mimi holding her hand while Izzy looked down at his hands in his lap. For once her was not typing away at his laptop, but just sitting there, not even thinking. TK had disappeared as soon as Tai had arrived with Kari's body.  
  
Sora looked up and realized that the young blond had come back, but had stopped away from the group. He sat on the floor, leaning against the wall beside the soda machine way down the hall. She got up and walked over to him. She sat down beside him, but he didn't even flinch. He just pulled his knees closer to his chest and rested his chin on his knees.   
  
For a while neither of them spoke. Sora had gotten to know the boy enough to know he would only talk when he was ready. "Why?" He asked after ten minutes.  
  
"Why what?"  
  
"Why do I care?" TK asked. "I barely knew her for two days. No that's wrong. We've been gone in the digital world for one more day, so that three. Three days. Why does it hurt so much? I didn't know here that well."  
  
"You liked her, huh?" Sora asked. He nodded still not looking at her. "You've known her longer then that. I really doubt you'd remember this, but when we came to the real world for the fight against Myotismon you used to play with her. Before Tai left when there were meeting at his house you'd play with her. You liked her then too." She paused. "Its gonna hurt no matter what. She was your friend, if only for a matter of days, but still your friend. You'll miss her, we all will."  
  
"Sora…" He finally looked up at her and she saw his blue eyes filled with tears. "I don't want her to go." She wrapped her arms around him at let him cry into her shirt.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Tai kneeled in front of a head stone tracing his hand over the different letters. K-A-R-I.  
'Kari Kamiya,' it read. 'Beloved daughter, sister, and friend. In your weakness your strength exceeded everything.' Below that the symbol of light was carved. Tai traced that too. Tears leaked from his eyes. 'You were stronger then I could ever have been!'  
  
'Why had this happened? Why hadn't I protected her like I should have? Why did I lie to the doctors and our parent?' He could still hear what Shin, Kari's doctor had said. "Her heart finally stopped. I just couldn't take it anymore." 'The digital World covers its tracks so very well,' Tai thought bitterly.  
  
He stood up and saw his friends standing behind him, each cloaked in black. Even Mimi; whom he could have laughed at if not for the occasion. 'Your pain is over, Hikari Kamiya. Here's to the adventures you'll be having. I'm proud of you for making it this far.'  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Far away, in another world, a small girl ran across a huge plain followed by a white cat. She was laughing, overjoyed that she could run without pain. 'I'm proud of you…' The words rang in her head. Her smile grew and tears formed in her eyes. "The adventure has just begun," she laughed as the white cat jumped on her shoulders and they took off full speed down the hill.  
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Well, there's the end. I really hoped you like this because it took a very long time! PLease read AND REVIEW!!!! I mean that. If you want a sequel I may consider it, but I don't know. Til my next fic later dayz. 


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